Well, I guess I should’ve said WHILE in Nepal to be correct. But it happened while we are on the other side of the world from the place we call home! Are we crazy or are we crazy?
Yep, the papers are signed, the keys are in hand (well, not in our hands but in the hands of people I trust, namely my parents) and we are officially owners of a house we have never been inside of. Feels crazy, unreal, and exhilarating all at the same time. We’re in Nepal, halfway around the world, and God is busy doing things for us in the place we call home. Even as I type this out I have to pinch myself to make sure this is not a dream…nope, I’m still conscious and in my right mind. Why another house, wasn’t that house you had nice enough or big enough?! The following answers the question…not big enough.
A little over a year ago, God gave Sara and me a greater passion for living in intentional community and a desire and vision to do that with where we live, wherever God would have us land after the race. (I say greater vision because we already loved living in community after having people live with us for the last two years of our life before we left on this adventure). After God told us we’re going back home when the race is over, we started asking him and finding out what it was he had for us there. One of the things he started to bring back to us was the idea to make our home a place of community for young people, family, friends, co-workers, college students, travelers, missionaries, and anyone God would bring us. God was telling us that now was the time to do this. After asking God if he wanted us to do it in our existing house we felt sure that God was saying, “No, I have something else out there for you, something much bigger and better suited for what I am calling you to.” Sara had this idea of an 8 bedroom mansion of a house with plenty of space for having lots of people join us in our home. It seemed as it turned out her and God were on the same page :).
I won’t go into all the details of how it all happened, but we asked God to find us a place where we could live out the dreams he’d given us, (we gave him specifics like huge, lots of bathrooms, needs a little work so it’s a good investment but not too much so we can focus on other things, close to colleges, a big yard for big parties, in the city, a place for a bed and breakfast, and more) and he did. He answered every request!!!!! We overcame seemingly insurmountable hurdles and difficulties in the process that clearly demonstrated over and over again that this was what God had for us. (The house that was for sale for over two years and had not sold (this alone is a miracle), price almost cut in half from original listing (another miracle), secured it within a day or two of other buyers securing it (wipes sweat off of brow), needs very little heavy lifting work to live in, but just enough to be a good investment with fun cosmetic updates (God knows how we roll, everything has to be a wise investment (: )….. and the list goes on) I felt like an observer watching God do His thing and occasionally helping out when he needed me to move a small rock to the side of the path while he took care of moving the mountains.
God continues to amaze me with how He loves to give good things to His children and that when we follow Him and His plan for our lives, there is no better place to be or things to do. To be honest, the life I am now living and have lived and will live in the future, is nothing like what I thought it would be when I planned my life out in my late teens early 20’s. But I would chose no other, this is the life God has for me and Sara, and I am loving it! Ephesians 2:10 says that God wants us to take paths that he has thought out ahead of time for us to take and that when we do we will live the good life that he has planned out for us. I am so experiencing that right now and have been for the past several years as I have given up my will and plans for his. I am humbled when I realize that God has chosen to give us this place and has asked us to pursue our dream of making our home a place of community and friendship with all who come and go and those who stay and live with us. And I am more aware than ever that all good things come from the Father who loves to give good things to His children. We are in no way responsible for this, it is totally an undeserved gift from God and we want to use it to bring glory to him and empower others to follow more fully after God and what He has for them.
I’ll admit part of me did not want to follow God on this because of what people might think of such a big house in such a nice part of town. But when I told God that and he answered us very clearly, “This is what I have for you, and besides, it’s not really yours anyhow, it belongs to me. So go enjoy what I have given you to use for my kingdom.” So here goes! We have bought a house that God has totally just given to us to use and live in for a time, and we are excited and humbled at His provision and love in our lives. We plan to have young people live with us and to rent out the butler suite as a bed and breakfast. We want this place to be a place where community and relationships happen, where people feel God’s love and are inspired to go out from there and bless others with the same love with which they’ve been loved.
Oh, and one last thing. I love how all that God was taking me through with what he was doing on the other side of the world in Lancaster, he totally applied into my life right here with where I am at. All things do work together for good!
Come visit us soon! Or in a while I guess 🙂 And a big thank you to family and friends who have stepped up and done so much for us to make this all happen. Especially my lovely mother Janice Hurst for representing us, and Arlan and Rosemary Hurst for their countless hours of hard work in managing all of our properties while we are gone. We couldn’t have done it without you guys. And for Ervin Barkman, our most amazing realtor and property investment mentor/advisor/and friend, for making this all happen. He is the very best realtor you will ever find. Period. If you want to buy or sell a house, please do yourself a favor and utilize his services, you’ll be glad you did. 717-468-4424 (By the way, he did not tell me to do this, I just think he’s the greatest after buying and selling houses with him over the last 10 years and think all people should work with him!)
A few prayer requests with this whole process:
1. We need to find good renters to live in this place till we return and have them move in asap!
2. We need to find renters for two of our other properties right now as well! So three renters needed!
3. Sara and I want to stay focused and present with where he has us now, pray that we are able to do that in the middle of all of this!
